AT&T, Google Fiber and Verizon scored the highest across four regions surveyed for an annual customer satisfaction report by analyst firm J.D. Power. Based on responses from over 20,000 subscribers across the U.S., the survey also indicated satisfaction among wireless internet customers is higher than fiber and cable scores.
Scores for 5G and 4G LTE home internet averaged 748 on a 1,000-point scale, while overall satisfaction among fiber and cable averaged at 712. Satellite internet subscribers averaged the lowest overall score, at 577.
The J.D. Power report attributes these differences primarily to gaps in satisfaction with cost of service. This isn't surprising, as cost has become a recurring consumer priority in the firm's surveys.
Interestingly, average monthly cost is higher for wireless subscribers at $79, whereas wired customers have an average cost of $72, “suggesting that cost alone is not the only determinant of satisfaction,” the report said.
Carl Lepper, senior director of technology, media and telecom at J.D. Power, said wireless companies have done an “admirable job of conveying the value of their wireless internet service which may explain higher satisfaction among wireless customers, even though they report higher monthly rates.”
These companies have advertised aspects of their service like “greater convenience, speed and bandwidth—and have backed up these claims, as seen in their customers’ actual experience,” Lepper said in the report. “Satellite and wired providers may continue to face increasing competition from this sector and will need to both communicate and deliver on the value and quality of their service to remain competitive.”
Similar to J.D. Power’s, other surveys this year have also showed lower customer satisfaction for cable, DSL and fiber when compared to wireless services.
AT&T, Google Fiber and Verizon rank by region
Satisfaction is higher overall across most U.S. regions compared to last year's J.D. Power survey.
In the East region (averaging 709 now compared to 707 last year), Verizon ranked highest for an eleventh consecutive year with a score well above average, at 760.
In the North Central region, up one point compared to last year (701), AT&T ranked highest, followed by CenturyLink and Xfinity. In 2022, Midco ranked highest in the North Central region followed by AT&T and CenturyLink, but this year did not appear on the list.
In the South (729 now compared to 720 last year) Google Fiber ranked with a much higher than average score of 839. In that region AT&T ranked second (753) followed by Frontier Communications (738).
And in the West, up nine points (710), AT&T also ranked highest with a score of 732, followed by Frontier Communications (716) and Xfinity (712).